Pressing-iron holder



Aug. 30, 1960 c. v. FARROW PRESSING-IRON HOLDER Filed Aug. 19, 1957PRESSING-IRON HOLDER 'Curl V. Farrow, Oakland, Calif. (Rte. 1, Box 59,Maricopa, Ariz.)

Filed Aug. 19, 1957, Ser. No. 678,767

2 Claims. (Cl. 248-117.4)

The present invention relates to a holder for conventional householdpressing irons adapted for dry or steam pressing of clothing and thelike and in particular to such a holder adapted for attachment to anironing board for removable retention of an iron.

Conventional electric irons are provided with a bac rest whereby theymay be positioned on end when not in use to dispose the heated surfaceout of contact with such as an ironing board upon which they.rest.Although by this means it is possible to set down an iron betweenoperations thereof certain disadvantages attach thereto. For example,only a small iron support area is possible for practical inclusion atone end of the iron so that an iron resting upon a built in rest issomewhat precariously situated with the majority of the weight thereofwell above the ironing board and the iron is thus easily upset. Therehave been devised certain iron holders particularly for older typeirons, however, some suffer from the disadvantage of insecurelyfastening themselves to such as an ironing board while others fail toaccommodate in gripping relation more than one size iron. Of the moreadvanced devices of this type wherein spring loaded members are employeddifliculty is encountered in temperature cycling of the spring meanswith a consequent loss of spring temper and resiliency.

The present invention overcomes all of the foregoing prior artlimitations and others not mentioned while at the same time presenting avery durable and rugged device adapted for facile removable attachmentto an ironing board to engage in gripping relation to irons of a widevariety of sizes. The foregoing is accomplished by a novel structureincluding a support plate bounded by spring loaded curved arms forreceiving and retaining an iron together with spring loaded attachmentmeans for the holder.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedpressing-iron holder having pivotal curved iron-receiving members orarms spring loaded for positive iron retention.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ironholder having spring loaded arms for receiving irons and meanssupporting the iron and separating same from the spring loading meansfor maximizing longevity of the holder.

It is yet another of the present invention to provide an iron holderadapted for spring attachment to an ironing board and having pivotalcontoured arms for mating with irons of different sizes for positiveretention thereof.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It isto be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by thesaid drawing and description may 2 l be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view in longitudinal center section of theiron holder shown mounted upon an ironing board and holding an iron.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the iron holder.

Figure 3 is a plan view of-the iron holder taken from the under sidethereof.

Figure 4 is a partial end view of the iron holder.

Considering now the structural details of the present invention asillustrated and referring to the drawing, there will be seen to beprovided a base unit 11 formed as a hollow flat rectangular box withupper and lower plates 12 and,1'3 respectively having peripheral matingwalls 14 and 16 respectively. Suitable means such as sheet metal screwsor the like may be employed to unite the base plates 12 and 13 as bythreading through the mating walls thereof as at each side thereof. Theupper and lower plates 12 and 13 are separated to minimize heattransmission and heat insulating material such as asbestos 17 may beprovided within the base as shown. Atop the base 11 there is disposed asupport plate 18 mounted generally parallel to the upper base plate 12as by bolts 19 extending upward through the base plate into bosses 21formed on the underside of the support plate. The upper surface of thesupport plate 18 is planar to receive a pressingiron 22 and this plateis formed with a flat rear end and side edges curving somewhat outwardtherefrom and smoothly together to a point at the front of the supportplate much in the manner of the outline of conventional pressing irons.

Along the two curved edges of the support plate there are disposedcurvilinear iron retaining members or arms 23 and 24 matching incurvature the edges .of the sup-.

'port plate 18. The arms 23 and 24 are formed with -with the bottomportions disposed beneath the support plate 18 and the walls curving upand over the edges of the support plate. As to mounting of the arms 23'and 24 a pivot pin 31, such as a hardened rivet, is positioned throughthe front of the support plate flush with the upper surface thereof andthrough the bottom portions of each of the arms with one of the armsvbeing deformed downward to fit under the other at this point. The armsare thus pivotally mounted at the front of the support plate 18 formovement in the plane thereof and extend short'of the point of thisplate in order not to interfere with each other when pivoted outward. Inaddition to the above noted mounting of the arms 23 and 24 they areattached together near the other ends thereof by resilient means intension urging the arms together against the support plate. In thisrespect there is employed a helical spring 32 disposed -within the base11 and having hooked ends extending upward through the slots 33 inopposite sides thereof into connection with the arms as through smallopenings 34 in the walls thereof. In this manner the arms areresiliently retained in mating relation with the support plate edges butmay be forced apart and away from same by such as an iron 22 pivotingthe arms outward against the tension of the spring 32. With theresilient arm connection slightly in back of the widest part of thesupport plate, and thus the widest arm separation, the arms need notonly be forced apart to admit entry of an iron slid onto the supportplate from the open back end thereof, but also clamp together behind thewidest part of a fully inserted iron to resist removal thereof.

Attachment of the iron holder to such as an ironing board 36, having forexample an ironing board cover 37 thereon, is also preferablyaccomplished resiliently to provide a positive gripping action and yetallow ready removal of the holder. To this end a generally U-shaped clip38 is provided in attachment with a bar or shaft 39 secured beneath thebase 11 at either end thereof. This clip 38 may have a vertically offset.portion for extension about an enlarged ironing board end and may beformed integral with the shaft "39 which is disposed in a cover member41 depending from the base 11 as at the rear end thereof and secured tothe base as by bolts 42 through apertures 40 therein and the screws ofthe base. The clip 38 includes vertical portions 43 depending from theshaft as a part of the vertical oflset and a spring 44 wound about theshaft has one end turned about this vertical portion 43 and the otherend hooked through an opening in the lower base plate 13 to urge theclip 38 upwards. The clip is forced by the spring '44 to pivot upwardbeneath the base about the shaft so as to grip such as an ironing boardbetween the clip and base. Although the clip may be manually pivoteddownward against the force of the spring 44 to release the iron holderfrom the ironing board for removal of the holder yet in the absence ofmanual forceable pivoting of the clip of the holder is quite firmlyanchored to the ironing board and will not move under shock orvibration. Other types of holder mountings may also be employed and thusfor wall mounting an opening 46 may be provided in the back plate 13 toaccommodate a hook or screw extending from a wall.

The above-described iron holder of the present invention will be seen toprovide a maximum of advantages and safety with a minimum number ofparts and complexity and construction throughout may be of a lightmetal. board or the like merely by pivoting apart the clip and base andslipping the holder on to the board whereupon the clip firmly grips theunderside thereof to positively anchor the holder in position. Insertionof an iron 22 is equally simple in that the iron is slid point firstonto the support plate 18 from the open rear end of the latter. As theiron is slid onto the plate 18 it engages the arms 23 and 24 with theslanted sides of the iron fitting against and under the upright Walls 28and 29 of these arms. The iron pivots apart the arms to extend thespring 32 attached between the arms until the iron reaches the front ofthe support plate. This support plate is dimensioned relative tocommercial irons so as to be slightly smaller than same whereby the iron22 fully inserted yet holds the arms slightly outward of the supportplate so that they clamp the iron by spring tension. Further, theresilient connection of the arms is positioned rearwardly of the widestpart of the sup- The holder is readily attached to an ironingport plateand thus of conventional irons so that they would have to be pivotedeven further apart for the iron to slide back off of the plate 18.Consequently the iron is firmly held upon the support plate so that noaccidental blow or nudge can dislodge same. The spring 32 is separatedfrom an iron disposed in the holder by the support plate and upper baseplate as well as air spaces so as to be relatively well insulated fromiron heat whereby long lived spring action results. As a consequence ofthe particular structure employed there is provided by the presentinvention an improved iron holder removably attachable to an ironingboard or the like and positively engaging and retaining in removablerelationship an iron of various possible sizes for maximum safety oftemporary iron storage.

What is claimed is:

1. An iron holder comprising a base member having a spring loaded clipsecured to the rear end thereof for pivoting toward same to clamp thebase upon the upper surface of an ironing board, a support plate havingthe shape of a pressing iron and mounted upon said base in spacedrelation thereto with the plate point adjacent the front end of thebase, a pair of arms pivotally mounted at the front ends thereof uponsaid plate adjacent the point thereof and each including bottom portionsextending beneath said plate and upstanding walls about a curved plateside, said arms having a maximum separation forward of the rear endsthereof, and a tension spring disposed within said base subjacent saidplate and having ends extending through slots therein into engagementwith said arms adjacent the rear ends thereof for urging same togetherwhereby said upstanding walls engage the curved side of said plate andresiliently grip an iron slid onto said plate from the rear thereof andrestrain iron removal.

2. An iron holder as claimed in claim 1 further defined by said supportplate having lateral dimensions slightly less than those of pressingirons and said arms having the upright walls thereof slanted inwardly ofsaid plate whereby said arms at all times forceably eugage an iron slidupon said plate by the tension of said spring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,692,599 Wenzel Nov. 20, 1928 2,139,809 Dolge Dec. 13, 1938 2,462,319Hawkins Feb. 22, 1949 2,481,869 Pilato Sept. 13, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS87,940 Sweden Nov. 24, 1936 609,861 Germany Feb. 25, 1935

